Vibe » Adelle Platonhttp://www.vibe.com
Just another WordPress siteTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:38:46 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0Oprah’s Future Plans Include Broadway And Expanding OWNhttp://www.vibe.com/2015/03/oprah-broadway-own-plans/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/oprah-broadway-own-plans/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:37:21 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=332468Oprah’s reign just won’t let up. The media mogul responsible for The Oprah Winfrey Show and the OWN Network is taking her headquarters from Chicago to Los Angeles, with huge plans in tow.

“The time had come to downsize this part of the business and to move forward. It will be sad to say goodbye, but I look ahead with such a knowing that what the future holds is even more than I can see,” she recently told THR.

According to O, she is setting her sights on international speaking engagements and a recurring role on Queen Sugar, an OWN series from Selma director Ava DuVernay based on the novel of the same name.

She is also looking to bring more scripted programming to OWN’s line-up. “I love telling the real stories of peoples’ lives, and now we get to create them, make them up, and I get to be part of them as an actor and producer,” she says.

And if her future to-do list didn’t look busy enough, there’s also Broadway. Though she passed on the revival of night, Mother, where she would have played the role of a mother who tries to stop her daughter from killing herself (“I just didn’t want to be in the space of suicide every night for six months,” O says), she’s jetting to New York within the coming weeks to scope out two potential plays. “I’d like something with a happier ending,” she says.

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/oprah-broadway-own-plans/feed/0Prepare To Binge On ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Season 3 This Summerhttp://www.vibe.com/2015/03/orange-is-the-new-black-season-3-return-date/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/orange-is-the-new-black-season-3-return-date/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:28:49 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=332391Netflix hit 'Orange Is The New Black' will return for Season 3 this summer]]>Tell your prison wives: the Netflix hit Orange is the New Black will return for Season 3 this summer.

Elevator Pitch: Fifteen years before his inauguration as a judge on NBC ratings cow The Voice, Cee-Lo was Atlanta hip-hop’s preeminent maverick. Cee-Lo and his three leather-lunged partners in dissidence—Big Gipp, T-Mo and Khujo—revitalized political rap with 1995’s muckraking Soul Food.

Peak Moment: “Cell Therapy” confronts the depreciated quality of life in Southwest Atlanta, a chokingly restrictive police state that sequesters people of color and modest means (“I wonder if the gate was put up to keep crime out or keep our ass in,” muses Cee-Lo). Amid calls for HUD reform, there’s a suspenseful, “Ice Cream”-like piano loop.

Peak Moment (Pt. 2): “I Didn’t Ask to Come” chaperones us through an unsightly procession of gang funerals, making clear that premature death is a given in the banana republic that Goodie Mob calls home.

Prodigy Moment: Cee-Lo opens his verse on “Goodie Bag” with an illusion-shattering zinger (“First of all, I stand a little more than five feet fall/But we can still brawl, nigga, I ain’t scared at all”) that’s reminiscent of Project P, the pint-sized stick-up kid from Mobb Deep. Despite their dwarfish dimensions, these two do not suffer humbug gladly.

Trapper’s Anthem: The block is hot on “Sesame Street.” Young people here have little to look forward to except spiritually deleterious work in Zone 3’s under-the-table economy. Straitjacketed by a lack of options or healthy diversions, the foodies tell us they’re in “desperate need of change.”

Most Slept-On: On “Live at the O.M.N.I.,” a cordon of “one million niggas” march to Organized Noize’s emboldening congas. They’re fed up with being held in thrall to a draconian legal system—because, as Big Gipp carps on “Thought Process,” “Can’t make no moves when you in the hands of the man.” “O.M.N.I.” still stands as maybe the funkiest-ever referendum on prison culture.

Bet You Didn’t Know: Fire-belching, Native Tongues-affiliated freak show Busta Rhymes helped shape the conspiratorial worldview that informs Soul Food. It was Busta who introduced these guys to Milton William Cooper’s pulpy Orwellian thriller Behold the Pale Horse, a 500-page tome of avalanching paranoia that sees the hand of Big Brother in every domestic crisis of the 20th Century.

Synopsis: Production trio Organized Noize—the hive-mind behind OutKast hits like “Player’s Ball” and “Elevators (Me & You)”—spazzed on Soul Food. The music here is spooky, infernal and forbidding, like it was recorded in a dank, cavernous attic crawling with funk 45s and angel dust bunnies.

Everyone in Goodie Mob played their part to perfection. Cee-Lo was the group’s ideological leader, blessed with an ursine tenor and the kind of prophetic charisma you can’t teach. Big Gipp was smooth and blithely cocksure; T-Mo was a ball of pugnacious indigence, rhyming with the entranced fury of a prizefighter; Khujo had the enervated, somnambulant demeanor of an infantryman numb from all the trauma visited upon him in combat.

Together they spoke truth to bureaucratic oligarchy on Soul Food, an edifying feat of descriptive, socially critical storytelling that pressed our nation’s public health apparatus for answers. Why, Goodie Mob asked, must we go to such lengths to ostracize the poor?

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/what-millennials-should-know-about-goodie-mobs-soul-food/feed/0Review: PARTYNEXTDOOR Brings The Party Back To New Yorkhttp://www.vibe.com/2015/03/review-partynextdoor-brings-the-party-back-to-new-york/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/review-partynextdoor-brings-the-party-back-to-new-york/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 18:54:46 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=332184A remedy for the cold, wintry nights of cuffing season arrived in New York City: an extreme dose of PARTYNEXTDOOR. Young couples and single ladies crowded Manhattan’s Irving Plaza (March 1), finding shelter from the snow storm inside for a night of K-Y-drenched R&B.

The sold-out show for the Miami crooner was colored with a diverse crowd, including a mix of ‘locs, Supreme hats, and Dominican salon blowouts. A few familiar faces such as HOT97’s Ebro Darden, A$AP Illz, and Peter Gunz, also lingered around the dimly lit venue.

The bash began with PARTY’s appropriate intro song “Welcome To The Party.” Centered in-between two light fixtures and a white screen illuminated with a montage of nature flicks (palm trees, snow, moving water all surfaced), OVO Sound’s marquee artist moved the crowd in his signature “Ferina” beanie, black jacket and stunner shades.

Shortly after his opener, he had the urge to thank his fans. “The purpose of tonight is to hear R&B music live. I only have two mixtapes, so… I love you. This is the definition of ground up, and everyone here is day 1” he said before his smooth transition into “Make a Mil.” After announcing that he just bought a crib in South Beach, PND’s Drake-assisted hit “Over Here” boomed through the speakers. “I do it for my fucking city,” he said.

The set soon turned way up when PARTY serenaded a special lady sitting on stage, singing lines from “Let’s Get Married” like, “I finally realized what I need/Can only be royal if you loyal girl.” On cue, the women went bonkers as dollars began to fall from the balcony. PARTY even wanted to sip some champagne with the girls in the front row (with a swift wristband check, of course).

When PARTY returned after a short intermission, he offered up his newer joints from “SLS” to “Bout It.” The lights even changed colors with each track, a visual nod to his Colours EP. “West District” soundtracked what looked like a Victorian play, as dark, cloudy skies and doves flew across the screen. Even the Disclosure-sampling “Sex On The Beach” made the temperature rise.

PND then wrapped the show with his most popular hit “Recognize” (another Drake collaboration despite the 6 God’s real-life absence), leaving both Stans and newbies to his catalog satisfied.

SET LIST:
Welcome to the Party
Right Now
Make A Mil
Over Here
Break From Toronto
TBH
Wild Bitches
West District
Muse
Persian Rugs
Curious
Let’s Get Married
SLS
Sex on the Beach
Thirsty
FWU
Options
Bout It
Girl From Oakland
Juss Know
Don’t Worry
Recognize

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/review-partynextdoor-brings-the-party-back-to-new-york/feed/0She Got Game: Meet WNBA President, Laurel Richiehttp://www.vibe.com/2015/03/wnba-president-laurel-richie-interview/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/wnba-president-laurel-richie-interview/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 18:31:17 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=332129Laurel Richie wrote the playbook on people skills. A Dartmouth College grad and over three decades worth of experience in business and marketing, Richie has been President of the Women’s National Basketball Association since April 2011. Acquiring her talents in corporate management and branding from training programs at advertising heavyweights Leo Burnett and Ogilvy & Mather respectively, the former Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. is a pro when it comes to campaigns for women.

“The second assignment I was given in my career at Ogilvy [was working on] Kimberly-Clark and Huggies,” she recalls of the job that dictated her career path. “I didn’t have kids then and didn’t really have any siblings that I had helped raise so it was a brand new category for me. It set the tone for me really enjoying working on products that targeted women or women were the primary consumer.”

Here, she reveals the female mentors and words of wisdom that keep her from dropping the ball.

My position in one sentence:
It’s really full responsibility for all the inner-workings and health of the [WNBA] as it continues to grow.

Moment I realized I wanted to go into marketing:
When I was graduating from college and interviewed with a whole host of companies (non-profits, investment banks, the U.S. government) and I met the marketing people, I liked them. Marketing sort of required them to be students of the world, have a good finger on the pulse of pop culture, understand people and what motivates them to make the decisions that they make, and it had a creative aspect to it. The people who came to interview from marketing companies seemed really cool, really fun and really interesting, and I thought when I’m 40, they were the people I most wanted to be like.

Origins of her success:
Luckily, I joined an agency called Leo Burnett. At the time, it had a terrific training program for entry-level college students and M.B.A.s who were getting into the business so I was fortunate to have their training program and then about a year and a half later, I moved to Ogilvy, which had a similar training program. So I feel like both my on-the-job training and extra effort is where I honed the specific skills of marketing.

Laurel Richie’s desk-side wisdom

Pro tip in handling challenges:
I really like challenges. Marketing is problem solving so when you get a challenge, it’s really a problem to be solved so I try to break down anything that feels daunting to “How do I get started?” I’ve got a quote on my board that says “Begin anywhere” so that really just helps me deconstruct things so that they don’t become larger than life.

Favorite quotes from her female mentors:
So my first two mentors were my grandmothers and my mother. These were really strong women who, all of them at some point in time, worked outside of the home, particularly my grandmothers that was pretty advanced notion for women of their generation. I draw incredible strength from their moral fiber, sense of curiosity, sense of family and sort of the importance of respecting people who are similar and different from you. My mom was very big on “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” and my maternal grandmother voted with, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

The key to balancing life and work:
I try in every single situation to realize it is just a choice and that in any moment, make the choice that feels best for that moment and five minutes later, I have the opportunity to make another choice.

Advice to women in showing their male superiors they are capable:
The most important thing is to pick something you love to do because then it’s not work and everything becomes a sense of possibility and you’re just pursuing your genuine interest. I think of myself as a manager and a leader when the people who work on my team express genuine interest in anything and they volunteer to do things that may be a little outside of their specific requirement or they take a project and go the extra mile or when they take the project that seems like the worst project being offered and turn it into something cool. I’ve had a lot of people volunteer to take what seems to be the most boring, low-profile project and then turns it into this thing that becomes the gold standard and everybody else looks at her like, “Oh, I wanna do what she just did.”

The definition of a boss: Creating an environment where people do their best work

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/wnba-president-laurel-richie-interview/feed/0Premiere: Adrian Marcel Is Ready To Go In His ‘5 Minutes’ Videohttp://www.vibe.com/2015/03/premiere-adrian-marcel-5-minutes-video/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/premiere-adrian-marcel-5-minutes-video/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 17:50:43 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=332174Adrian Marcel is a man on a mission in his latest video for “5 Minutes.” Directed by Keoni Mars, the visual shows the Bay Area crooner cruising in the whip to his bae’s apartment while singing, “Baby, all you need is someone who’s gonna love you down.”

As a featured BET Music Matters artist, Marcel sung his way to #4 on iTunes’ Top R&B Songs Chart in 2014 with his breakout single “2AM.” His mixtapes, 7 Days of Weak and Weak After Next (executive produced by Raphael Saadiq), have made waves, featuring an array of grown and sexy jams.

Now, Adrian continues to infuse his Westside roots into his rhythm and blues. After teaming with hitmaker Rico Love for his recent single “Spending The Night Alone” and taking a cue from Christian Grey for his V-Day offering Fifty Shades of Adrian: Unplugged, the master serenader is hitting all the right notes.

See the “5 Minutes” visual off his forthcoming project Weak After Next Reloaded and our recent one-on-one with Marcel below.

VIBE: You teamed up with Rico Love to create “Spending The Night Alone.” How did you two end up working together?Adrian Marcel: Rico has always been a real super cool friend of mine. We met up just kind of doing different things for BET, especially with Music Matters. He was talking about the way I performed and the passion I showcased so he flew me out to Miami. When I was there, we knocked out the record in a couple of hours. I mean I knew the first time I heard it, it was perfect. It was for me.

It seems like Raphael Saadiq is one of the realest MVPs on your team. People often call you his protege. Are you comfortable with that?
I’m comfortable with whatever you wanna call me. Not to say it doesn’t matter but, at the same time, people are going to have their opinions and that just happens to be a good one. I don’t get too caught up in the name. For me, it has to be real and genuine. As long as I’m doing what I’m supposed to do in showcasing passion, inspiration and motivation then so be it. From day one, it’s kind of been like that and either me or [Raphael] would be like, ‘Cool,’ laugh about it and keep working.

On your track “I’m Still,” you sing, “I’m still the same man I was before/Never will I let it change me/ Sometimes I sit alone/Hoping that this life won’t faze me.” What was the biggest obstacle you faced before you got signed to Republic Records?
I think artists sometime distract ourselves. We make things a little more difficult for ourselves. We overthink things and I think that was one of the biggest things for me, worrying about, ‘Can I sing good enough? Is my hair okay? Will they accept me? Is this it?’ From the smallest to biggest things, I just worry too much. [Raphael] did an excellent job by just stepping in and showing me how to believe in myself even more, in an industry sort of matter. He was just like, ‘Hey, man, trust yourself.’

You went on tour with The Dream, Kelly Rowland and Keyshia Cole at one point. What was your wildest moment on the road?
A man offered me his wife. He was like, ‘Hey man, you know my wife is just such a big fan. She loves you, man. We sit and listen to your music all day. Sometimes we put it on when we make love, man, but… I know this may be a little weird for you but is there any way… maybe one night with my wife? Tonight?’ I’m just sitting there, kinda dumbfounded. It was definitely an awkward moment for sure.

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/03/premiere-adrian-marcel-5-minutes-video/feed/0FOX Is Test Driving A Talk Show Hosted By Boris Kodjoe And Nicole Ari Parkerhttp://www.vibe.com/2015/02/boris-kodjoe-nicole-ari-parker-fox-talk-show/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/boris-kodjoe-nicole-ari-parker-fox-talk-show/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 20:36:48 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=331910FOX must be trying to improve their likability. Their latest strategy: recruit an extremely attractive, Hollywood couple for air-time. Enter gorgeous pair, Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker, who will be hosts for a new talk show titled The Boris and Nicole Show.

The hour-long talk show — slated to run for four weeks — will center around the couple’s opinions on current events to relationships, and is set to air in Fox’s New York and Los Angeles markets. Celebrity guests will appear to chat with the long-time couple, who also act as the show’s executive producers.

“We met and fell in love on screen so any time we get to work together, we know it will be a lot of fun,” said Kodjoe in a statement.

“There are so many things that we are passionate about so we are thrilled that we will now have a platform to share these issues with an audience,” added Parker.

If the initial run fares well with the audience, Fox will extend the show’s contract and add on more episodes. Other shows that were tested before snagging national syndication are The Real and Wendy.

Tune in to The Boris and Nicole Show when it airs July 6.

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/boris-kodjoe-nicole-ari-parker-fox-talk-show/feed/0Stance Slaps More NBA Legends On Their Latest Series Of Sockshttp://www.vibe.com/2015/02/stance-nba-legends-socks/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/stance-nba-legends-socks/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 20:04:40 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=331892Stance continues to up the ante on their collection of socks.

After plastering NBA team logos, players and legends on their threads for optimal sock stunting, the brand is now rolling out its latest NBA Legends series, which puts hardwood OGs Wilt Chamberlain and Scottie Pippen in the mix. Allen Iverson, Larry Bird and Shaquille O’Neal also make a comeback in more baller poses.

Stance also unveiled its new Hardwood Classics collection, which salutes the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, who will be getting fans hype for the 2015 Playoffs.

“This line pays tribute to some of the best that basketball has to offer,” said Tzvi Twersky, Basketball Category Director at Stance, in a press release. “From Allen Iverson’s famous 3-pointer in the 2001 NBA Finals to the throwback Cleveland Cavaliers logo, all the new socks are both iconic and timely.”

Need these new Stance socks in your wardrobe ASAP? Check out the entire collection here.

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/stance-nba-legends-socks/feed/0New Kids On The Block Might ‘Go Commando’ On Their Tourhttp://www.vibe.com/2015/02/new-kids-on-the-block-go-commando-interview/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/new-kids-on-the-block-go-commando-interview/#commentsThu, 26 Feb 2015 18:51:54 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=331631News flash: New Kids on the Block are grown men now. Still doesn’t mean we can’t get jiggy to their old-school hits like “Step By Step” or “You Got It (The Right Stuff).” Now, the Kids—namely Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Donny Wood and Jonathan Knight—are back in town and teaming with Cottonelle to encourage folks to go commando.

But before you start dropping your draws, here’s the skinny: Cottonelle is sponsoring NKOTB’s The Main Event tour, featuring special acts, TLC and Nelly.

“We are putting it out there that we might be going commando and Cottonelle gives you the confidence to do so if you so choose,” Joey told VIBE via email, noting that they are not demanding fans to run around sans underwear. “It’s more like we are ‘going commando.’ We can go on stage and feel confident. And if our fans wanted to [go commando], this will help them do so.”

Undergarments aside, NKOTB says collaborations between their tour co-stars could happen. “You know we’ve been talking about some things,” Joey said. “We love Nelly and TLC. TLC just did a Kickstarter campaign and raised $100,000, so who knows? Maybe we will do a guest appearance on the new album.”

If the band had to create their dream show, though, the bill would be bananas. “Michael Jackson, The Beatles… and Bette Midler (laughs),” Joey said. “Michael Jackson is the greatest performer ever. The Beatles, greatest rock band ever and the greatest songs ever. Bette Midler just because. You can’t really top Michael or The Beatles, so you just gotta put something there. She’ll open it up for them. She is fierce, no doubt about it.”

There is no denying the guys’ fire, either. With John on The Amazing Race and the group hosting an annual cruise called Rock This Boat (you can see the seaside shenanigans on Pop TV on Wednesday nights), they will be taking the States by storm on their Main Event outing this year, commando or not. “That’s what music is about, it’s about feeling free,” NKOTB’s Joey said. “Leaving nothing behind.”

]]>http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/new-kids-on-the-block-go-commando-interview/feed/0LeBron James Plays LeBron James In Judd Apatow’s ‘Trainwreck’http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/lebron-james-trainwreck-trailer/
http://www.vibe.com/2015/02/lebron-james-trainwreck-trailer/#commentsWed, 25 Feb 2015 20:41:43 +0000http://www.vibe.com/?p=331454LeBron James has already proven he’s a beast in basketball (he recently broke Scottie Pippen’s record in career assists) so his next big move? Lighting up the big screen.

Showing off his acting skills in the upcoming film, Trainwreck, the Cleveland Cavaliers star gushed to THR about his new opportunity.

“So many people are used to be seeing me on the basketball court,” he says. “So to see what I’m capable of on the big screen and being a part of something with Bill Hader, Amy Schumer, and Judd [Apatow] producing the whole thing and directing, it’s pretty cool.”

Apatow’s latest laugh fest follows Amy (played by Schumer), who is overly fearful of commitment in relationships. Even her father drilled the phrase “Monogamy isn’t realistic” into her head as a young girl. She plays the field (even bumping uglies with wrestling star John Cena) before swooning over a handsome sports doctor (Hader).

While it’s strange not seeing LBJ take the lead, he sure looks like a promising wingman. Trainwreck rams into theaters this summer.—Cook T.P.